Attachable feeding foot for sewing machine attachments



J. CONNORS July 14, 1953 ATTACHABLE FEEDING FOOT FOR SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENTS Filed 001;. 24, 1951 .INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented July 14, 1953 UNITED STATE PATENT OFFICE 1 ATTACHABLE FEEDING FOOT FOR SEWING I MACHINE ATTACHMENTS John Connors, Hamden, Conn., assignor to The Greist Manufacturing Company, New Haven, Conn., acorporation of Connecticut Application October 24, 1951, Serial No. 252,899

7 Claims. (01. 11277) This invention relates to an attachment for household sewing machines, and more particularly to a device or devices for adapting an existing sewing machine attachment to do other work bythe use of certain adapting devices so thatthe,

attachment will perform functions otherthan those for which it was originally designed.

A buttonhole attachment is provided with means for moving the cloth laterally of the length of the buttonhole so as to effect a cross stitch of zig-zag stitch around the buttonhole, and also has provision for moving the material in a back' and-forth direction longitudinally of the length of the buttonhole or about an oblong path to sew around the buttonhole. Such an attachment as is shown in the Almquist patent has provision for effecting the feed of the cloth for the various.

operations by the feed blade carried by the attachment itself anddoes not employ the normal feedin mechanism providedin the usual household sewing machine, this mechanism being usually engaged by a cover plate so that it will be inoperative during the use of the buttonhole attachment. For this purpose the feed blade of the buttonhole attachment is provided with a cloth-engaging or cloth-feeding foot which is pro-' vided with both longitudinal and transverse grooves or ridges so that it will engage and move the cloth transverselyor laterally as well as longitudinally of the attachment. v

By the use of certain adapting mechanism, it

is possible to convert the Almquist buttonhole attachment into an attachment for performing certain decorative stitching such as embroidery, for example. In the use of the attachment for this purpose, however, it is desirable to use the feed mechanism provided in the usual household sewing machine and to use the lateral or cross stitching of the buttonhole attachment but not the longitudinal stitching mechanism thereof. In the present structure provision is made for preventing longitudinal movement of the feed blade by the'attachment but making use of the transverse feeding movement or cross stitching mechanism' thereof in order to produce zig-zag stitches.

It is also desirable in this embroidery or decorative work to use the usualfeed of the sewing machine. This cannot be done, however, with the feeding foot employed with the attachment for the construction of the bottom or engaging face which maybe attached to the lower face of the.

feeding foot of the-buttonhole attachment, this attachable foot having longitudinal grooves and ridges only so that it will engage the cloth and move it laterally when the foot is'moved laterally,

but the longitudinal grooves and ridges willperv mit the cloth to be moved longitudinally with respect to the feeding foot by the usual feed mechanism of the sewing machine. The attachable foot will in this respect act in a manner similar, to the ordinary presser foot during feed of the material by the feeding mechanism of the sewing machine but will move the cloth laterally for decorative or zig-zag stitching when the feed blade is given such movements. It will be understood that when this auxiliary feeding foot is employed, the cover plate of the feed mechanism is not used.

One object of the present invention is to adapt a sewing machine attachment such as a buttonhole attachment for work other than that for which it was originally intended.

Another objectof the invention is to provide a buttonhole attachment for sewing machines with respect to the line of stitching, it will permit movement of the cloth in a longitudinal direction with respect to the footby the feed mechanism of the sewing machine with which the attachment is used.

To these and other ends the invention consists in thenovel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter. described and claimed.

In theaccompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a sewing machine attachment, such as shown inthe Almquist patent referred to, with my, improvements applied thereto v I g Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the front portion 3 of the attachment showing my auxiliary feeding foot attached to the feeding foot of the attachment;

Fig. 3 is a view of the adapter mechanism for preventing longitudinal movement of the feed blade of the sewing machine; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the auxiliary attachable feeding foot.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown in the drawings a but-' tonhole attachment for sewing machines com-' prising a main frame consisting of a base plate having a pair of upstanding frame members (only one of which is shown), and in these frame members is rotatably mounted a. shaft |2 to which is secured a cam member l3. The shaft I2 is adapted to be rotated in a step by-step movement by means of the usual fork arm |4 pivotally mounted on the shaft |2 upon which fork arm is pivoted a pawl l6 engaging the teeth of a ratchet wheel II. To one end of the frame members is secured the usual adapter If] by which the device is attached to the presser bar of the usual household sewing machine.

Pivoted at upon the base plate I0 is a lever 2|. Upon the forward end of this lever is an upstanding pin 22 adapted to be engaged in the cam track of the cam wheel |3 so as to oscillate the lever about its pivot 20 when the cam is rotated.

Rotatably mounted at the rear end of the lever 2| is a shaft 23 carrying at its lower end a pinion 24-so that the shaft and pinion will be oscillated laterally with the lever 2|. Also secured to the shaft 23 is a ratchet wheel 25, the teeth of which are normally engaged by a pawl 26 when the lever 2| is oscillated, so that as the shaft 23 is moved from side to side, the ratchet wheel wil1 be rotated in a step-by-step movement thus serving to rotate the shaft 23 and pinion 24. aspects of the present invention, however, no use is made of the rotation of the pinion 24, as will be hereinafter explained.

Pivoted at the lower face of the frame i0 is a feed blade 21. This blade is provided with a slot 28, as shown in Fig. 2, and a pivot pin 29 passes through this slot and through a slot 30 in the base plate to connect these members pivotally together and to permit sliding movement between the base plate In and the feed blade 21 if such is desired.

The feed blade extends rearwardly from its pivot, and adjacent its rear end is provided with an elongated opening 3| adjacent its central portion, which opening, in the usual buttonhole attachment, is adapted to receive a rack member having a rack provided with internal teeth to cooperate with th pinion 24. In the present invention, however, there is inserted into the opening 3 I, the adapter member 32, shown in Fig. 3, as will be hereinafter described.

It will be understood that with the exception of the adapter member 32, all of the above parts are found in the buttonhole attachment shown in the Almquist patent referred to so that further description thereof will be unnecessary. As also shown in the Almquist patent, the feed blade 21 is provided with a pair of forwardly extending arms 33 upon the ends of which is pivoted a feeding foot 34 of substantially rectangular shape and provided with an oblong opening 35. This oblong opening is to accommodate the needle during longitudinal and transverse movements of the feed blade, and the rectangular foot 34 is provided with a relatively narrow front portion 36 In some and relatively narrow side portions 31. This feeding foot is provided upon its lower surface with serrations or teeth 38, some of which are inclined in one direction and some of which are inclined in another so that the foot will carry the cloth both forwardly and rearwardly in a longitudinal direction and also in a transverse direction and will, of course, prevent the cloth moving relatively to the foot in any direction.

In order to provide for the feeding of the material forwardly by the usual feed mechanism of the sewing machine, I have provided an auxiliary foot shown in Fig. 4 which may be readily attached to and detached from the foot 34 without removing the latter from the attachment. As shown in Fig. 4, this auxiliary foot comprises a U-shaped body portion 40 having upwardly projecting lugs 4| at its four corners and cooperating upwardly projecting lugs 42 at the inner corners of the legs of the U-Shaped body. It is also provided with relatively long forwardly projecting arms 43 and a relatively short intermediate arm 44, The arms 43 hav upwardly extending lugs upon their free ends while the arm 44 is provided with a lug 46. I have shown mor especially in Fig. 2 of the drawings the lower surface of this auxiliary foot provided with longitudinal grooves 41 which form ridges beween the grooves. These longitudinal ridges are relatively sharp, and While they will permit the material to slide longitudinally relatively to the auxiliary foot, they will engage the material and move it transversely during transverse movements of the foot.

It will be understood that the upstanding lugs 4|, 42, 45 and 46 are somewhat resilient, and will, therefore, clamp frictionally upon the feeding foot 34 as shown in Fig. 2. Th narrow side portions 31 of th foot will lie along the lugs of the U-shaped portion 40 of the auxiliary foot and be clamped between the inner lugs 42 and the outer lugs 4|. The forward portion 36 of the foot 34 will be clamped between the lugs 45 and the lug 46 so that the auxiliary foot 40 will be securely attached to the foot 31 and prevented from relative movement with respect thereto.

It is also desired, as previously stated, to inhibit longitudinal movement of the feed blade 21 with respect to the frame, which movement is usually effected by the engagement of the pinion 24 with a rack member inserted in the opening 3|. In the present instance, however, the adapter member 32 which is inserted in the opening 3| is provided with a smooth walled opening 48 to receive the pinion 24 so that this pinion will merely rotate idly without performing any function. Therefore, during reciprocation of the fork arm N, there will be no longitudinal movement of the feed blade Z'I.

There will, however, be transverse or lateral movement of the feed blade during the reciprocation of the fork arm due to the engagement of the lever 2| with the feed blade 21. This engagement is through the pinion 24 and the opening 48 in the adapter member 32. It will be recalled that the pinion 24 is carried by the shaft 23 which is in turn supported by the lever 2| in the rear end of the latter. Therefore, when the lever 2| is oscillated by the cam i3, the pinion will also be moved laterally and will move the adapter member laterally. As the adapter member is snugly received in an opening in the feed blade 21, the latter will be oscillated about its pivot 29 and, therefore, will cause lateral or cross stitching movements of the foot 34 at the forward end of the feed blade.

It will be recalled that the feed blade 21 may be moved longitudinally of the frame plate 10 as permitted by the slot 28 to receive the pivot 29. if desired, therefore, the adapter 32 may be provided with an internal endless rack 50 for the In sing of a small buttonhole. If the feed blade is moved forwardly from the position shown in 1, the pinion may be engaged with the rack instead of being placed in the opening 48 and he adapter member used for the sewing of a uttonhole thus giving it two functions instead i one.

The adapter member 32 may be held in place by a spring member secured to a cover plate 52 which is hinged at 53 to the frame member if) so that it will be swung downwardly about the hinge 53 to permit the adapter to be removed and replaced.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A sewing machine attaohment comprising a frame, a member movably connected thereto and having a feeding foot at its forward end, an auxiliary foot, and means for detachably securing said auxiliary foot upon the lower surface of said feeding foot, said means comprising upstanding lugs on said auxiliary foot adapted to frictionally clamp portions of said feeding foot between them.

2. A sewing machine attachment comprising a frame, a member inova-bly connected thereto and having a feeding foot at its forwardv end, an auxiliary foot, means for detachably securing said auxiliary foot upon the lower surface of said feeding foot, said feeding foot having an elongated opening therein, and said auxiliary foot having upstanding lugs to frictionally engage the edges of said opening and the outer edges of the feeding foot to clamp the auxiliary foot to the feeding foot.

3. A sewing machine attachment comprising a frame, a lever pivoted on the frame, means to oscillate said lever, a feed blade pivoted to the frame and having a feeding foot at its forward end, said feeding foot having an enlarged opening therein, means pivotally connecting the rear end of said feed blade to said lever whereby oscillation of the lever effects oscillation of the feed blade, an auxiliary foot detachably secured to the lower surface of said feeding foot and having longitudinally extending ridges formed on its lower surface, said auxiliary foot having lugs upstanding therefrom to engage the edges of said opening, and the means for connecting said feed blade to said lever preventing longitudinal movement of the blade with respect to the frame.

4. A sewing machine attachment comprising a frame, a lever pivoted on the frame, means to oscillate said lever, a feed blade pivoted to the frame and having a feeding foot at its forward end, means pivotally connecting the rear end of said feed blade to said lever whereby oscillation of the lever effects oscillation of the feed blade, an auxiliary foot detachably secured to the lower surface of said feeding foot and having longitudinally extending ridges formed on its lower surface, said means pivotally connecting the blade to the lever comprising a shaft carried by the lever, a pinion on said shaft and a member carried by the blade having a smooth walled opening therein to snugly receive said pinion.

5. A sewing machineattachment comprising a frame, a lever pivoted on the frame, means to oscillate said lever, a feed; blade pivoted to the frame and having a feeding foot at its forward end, means pivotally connecting-the rear end of said "feed blade to said lever whereby oscillation of the lever effects oscillation of the feed blade, and an auxiliary footdetachably secured to the lower surface of said feeding foot, said auxiliary foot having longitudinal ridges formed on its lower surface and having upstanding lugs at its edges to frictionally clamp, between them, the edges of said feeding foot.

6. A sewing machine attachment comprising a frame, a lever pivoted on the frame, means to oscillate said lever, a feed blade pivoted to the frame and having a feeding foot at its forward end, means pivotally connecting the rear end of said feed blade to said lever whereby oscillation of the lever effects oscillation of thefeed blade, said feeding foot having an elongated opening therein, and an auxiliary foot detachably secured to the lower surface of said feeding foot and having longitudinal ridges formed on its lower surface, said auxiliary foot having a body portion of U-shaped form, and upstanding lugs upon each side of the legs thereof to clamp frictionally upon the portions of the-feeding foot at each side 0 said opening. g

. 7. A sewing machine attachment com-prising a frame, a member movably connected thereto and having a feeding foot at its forward end, said foot being provided with an elongated opening, an auxiliary foot, and means for detachably securing said auxiliary foot upon the lower surface of said feeding foot, said means comprising spaced upstanding lugs on said auxiliary foot adapted to References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 300,531 Thomas et al June 17, 1884 2,482,607 Almquist Sept. 20, 1949 

